A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 161 Huzhou Lu Family
The traffic in the Yangtze River Delta region is very developed in later generations, and the slogan of free shipping in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai is not for nothing.

However, at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, there were no roads, trains, or airplanes and high-speed rail, and the main means of transportation was waterways.

The large-scale cross-city railway in Shanghai will not come until the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, which is a part of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway.

Fortunately, there are many water systems in the south of the Yangtze River, and inland waterway transportation has always been very developed.

The most typical is the Wusong River, which connects Suzhou and Shanghai, but it is called Suzhou Creek after it flows to Shanghai.

Li Yu, Zhang Yuanji, and Li Shutong were on a small ship of the China Merchants Inland Waterway Shipping Company.

China Merchants Inland Water Shipping Company has inland water terminals in Suzhou, Hangzhou, Huzhou, Jiaxing, Changzhou, Wuxi, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, etc., which is quite convenient.

In fact, as far as the current situation is concerned, the traffic in this area is still among the best in the country.

The three of them arrived in Huzhou in a few days by car and boat.

There is nothing to do on the road, Li Yu has already written the introductory lecture notes of biology.

He also bought several biology books in English and started writing from memory.Although there will inevitably be some omissions in this way, at least it can ensure correctness and popularity.

Today's elementary schools are said to be elementary schools, but in fact many of them are children in their teens.

Arriving at the Neihe Wharf in Huzhou, the three went straight to Qianyuan where the Lu family was located.

I saw many brush sellers on the road. Both Li Shutong and Zhang Yuanji were educated in strict private schools, and they couldn't put it down.

Huzhou is known as the "Chinese Calligraphy City" and "The Capital of Brushes". Many great calligraphers have emerged in modern times.

In the early years of the Republic of China, the calligraphy world was known as "shen in the south and north in the north", and the "shen" was Shen Yimo from Huzhou.

As for the four treasures of the study, pens, inks, papers and inkstones are all famously produced in Anhui: Hui ink is from Huizhou, Anhui, She inkstone is also from Huizhou, Anhui, Xuan paper is from Xuancheng, Anhui, and even pens used to be Xuancheng pens from Anhui.

It was not until the Yuan Dynasty that the Hubi in Huzhou stood up.

Zhang Yuanji and Li Shutong couldn't help but bought a few. Seeing that Li Yu, as a cultural person, was indifferent to this, they were curious: "What a good pen, don't you want to buy some?"

Li Yu smiled wryly, "I prefer to use hard pens."

They don't seem to know how bad Li Yu's Chinese studies are.

Qianyuan is still very big. After all, the Lu family is a big family in Huzhou, but Lu Shufan's management is indeed not good.

Originally, the Lu family still had shops and pawnshops in Huzhou, silk factories and money houses in Shanghai, and their income was very high.

However, during the Gengzi Incident, Lu Shufan heard that many fellow villagers in Beijing and Tianjin were suffering, so he organized a relief society, chartered two large ships, and went to Beijing and Tianjin twice to rescue more than 6000 people who returned from the south, and transported back more than 200 coffins. Tool.The body of Nie Shicheng who died in battle was transported back to his hometown for burial.

At the same time, relief food was distributed and medical bureaus were opened, which cost a lot of money.

The money was basically provided by the relief society. The imperial court only allocated 2000 taels of silver, and the remaining 7 taels were raised by the relief society.

Although the Lu family owed a lot of money because of this, it was not overwhelmed. After all, there was a relief society behind.

Moreover, it was originally a crime committed by the Qing government, and it was unable to help the people, so it could only let the people help each other.Everyone has a good impression of the Lu family.

One year later, because the last disaster relief was very successful, Lu Shufan was awarded the title of "Huzhou Good Man", and Li Hongzhang arranged for him to rescue the disaster again.

It's just that this time, for some unknown reason, Lu Shufan actually lent the raised money to some private individuals, perhaps because he thought they would be promising in the future, but he didn't expect it to be a bunch of scammers, and the money would not come back.

Once this kind of thing happens, it will be a very big blow to fundraising.

Moreover, because of worrying about disaster relief, the Lu family's silk factory and bank in Shanghai were neglected and fell into trouble.

In short, a series of blows directly cut off the Lu family's roots.

As for why he sold the collection of books to the Japanese in the future, he was somewhat disappointed with the Qing court. After all, he himself wanted to sell the collection of books to the government.

But counting on the Qing government can only be haha.

The three of them knocked on the gate of Qianyuan, and soon a famous housekeeper came to open the door, and Li Yu sent a greeting card: "Li Yu from the capital, Zhang Yuanji from Shanghai, and Li Shutong beg to see the master of the Lu family."

The butler glanced at the greeting post, and then at the three of them, as if caught in an ideological struggle, he didn't speak for a while.

Li Yu asked again: "Housekeeper?"

The butler gritted his teeth and said, "Come in! But now there is a Japanese in the house, Han Shimada, who is visiting the master. Hey, you go and have a look."

Li Yu didn't expect the Japanese to come so quickly, so he hurriedly asked, "Where are they now?"

The steward said: "They are all in the Song Tower, you come with me."

Zhang Yuanji also hurriedly said, "Please lead the way!"

The name "皕Songlou" can be seen from the literal meaning. The two "hundred" means that there are two hundred Song edition books. This is the high praise of Lu Xinyuan, the head of the Lu family, for his collection.

After all, Song edition books are the most precious in the book collection world.

By the way, in fact, most of the Song edition books are printed by engraving.

Block printing was invented in the Tang Dynasty and began to be widely used in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.

However, only a few of Tang and Five Dynasties prints have been handed down.

Although movable type printing was available in the Song Dynasty, block printing was still commonly used.

One more thing, what is interesting is that Koreans have always believed that movable type printing is theirs!Because the earliest movable-type printing book found so far is the "Qingliang Dashunzong Heart Essentials Method" written by Goryeo at the end of the 13th century.

But anyone who understands knows that this is just an isolated evidence from South Korea, and China has much more evidence that can be produced.

But Koreans don’t think so, they immediately feel that movable type printing is their own, and the earliest extant discovery is here!Then treat it as a national treasure and publicize it desperately.It even became a gold-lettered signboard of the local tourism industry and built an ancient printing museum.

It's also pretty funny.

Anyway, Li Yu has long been familiar with this situation, the whole world belongs to Korea!
Speaking of the Song version of the book, not only is the knife technique fine, the font is strong, but also the proofreading is intensive, and the academic value is very high.

Therefore, it is said that the printed editions of the Song Dynasty are the best, but they were already rare in the Qing Dynasty.

For this reason, bibliophiles in the Qing Dynasty often showed off their Song edition books.

During the Qianlong period, Huang Pilie, a famous Suzhou bibliophile, once collected more than one hundred Song edition books, so he named his book collection "Hundred Song Edition One Shop", boasting to the world that he had a collection of one hundred Song edition books.

As soon as they arrived downstairs, they saw the head of the Lu family, Lu Shufan, and the Japanese, Shimada Han, coming out.

Although it's not the first time for Shimada Han to go upstairs, but it's not long, and it's a thrill to see it, it's a good thing!

Shimada Han said: "Lu, Mr. Lu, Japanese people in Japan have very, ah, respect for Sinology. We will definitely be able to ensure that the Lu family's collection of books is intact."

Han Shimada has a bit of a stutter, but his Chinese is not bad.

Lu Shufan was still a little hesitant, "I have never been to Japan, does Japan really attach so much importance to Sinology?"

Shimada Han said: "Of course! All Japanese who have read books know Sinology."

Lu Shufan was surprised: "I didn't expect it to be like this!"

Han Shimada continued to attack: "The price we can offer will definitely satisfy you. Mr. Iwasaki is also the head of a big Japanese family, and he can be said to be sympathetic to him."

Lu Shufan asked: "The Mr. Iwasaki you mentioned also has official status or fame?"

"Mr. Iwasaki is a businessman," Shimada said.

Lu Shufan frowned slightly, "It turned out to be a businessman."

Han Shimada said: "But Mr. Iwasaki is an incredible businessman, and he has the highest respect for Sinology in his heart."

Li Yu said loudly: "No matter how respectful, the roots of these things are also in the land of China."

Lu Shufan looked at Li Yu and the others: "Who are you?"

Li Yu cupped his hands and said, "Excuse me, I'm from the capital. My name is Li Yu. This is Mr. Zhang Yuanji, and this is Li Shutong. We heard that Mr. Zhang has a request for someone, so we are here to pay a visit."

Lu Shufan murmured: "Zhang Yuanji? I remember you came here."

Zhang Yuanji actually saw that Lu Shufan took the Japanese up the building, but he was rejected twice when he tried to go up the building, so he was a little angry. Could he not be as good as a Japanese!A little unhappily said: "It is true that I have been here, but I didn't even go up a single staircase of the Song Building."

Lu Shufan's old face was a little red, and he coughed: "This moment, that moment."

Li Yu said: "Your Excellency really want to sell the collection? This is the precious painstaking effort of the deceased master."

Lu Shufan sighed: "If I hadn't been cornered, I wouldn't have thought about it either."

Li Yu said: "Things can be discussed before they are beyond the point of impossibility, which is much better than selling to Japan."

Shimada Han didn't expect to kill a few people halfway, and quickly said: "Nowadays, the only one who can completely preserve the Lu family's books is Japan, otherwise, these rare books may be lost everywhere."

This is Lu Shufan's knot in his heart. Even if he sells them, he still wants to sell them as complete as possible. Since they can no longer be protected, at least they can still be kept together.

Although it is said that the cub sells Ye Tian's heart, but Lu Shufan is still a man, at least he still has a sense of honor and disgrace.

Shimada Han continued: "Even the majestic royal family, the Old Summer Palace was burned under the fire. Can't you see the current situation?"

Li Yu directly refuted: "Since that is the case, why does the Lu family have reached this point, doesn't Mr. Shimada know? If it weren't for the Eight-Power Allied Forces, how could there be so many victims? If it wasn't for the relief of the victims, how could the Lu family owe money?" So much money? And in the Eight-Power Allied Forces, there are also you Japan! Why, you committed crimes, and now you want to come here to be good people?"

"You, you, I..." Han Shimada stuttered, unable to speak for a while.

Li Yu said to Lu Shufan again: "Master Lu, we can understand your feelings, but I don't think the Lu family has reached the end of the mountain, and it can be kept for a day. If we really want to sell, our business consortium will also Buy it all."

Business Consortium is the temporary name that Li Yulu discussed with Zhang Yuanji.

In fact, it was sold all at once, and Lu Shufan was really reluctant, and really hoped to delay for a while, so he changed the subject: "I just ask Mr. Shimada to take a look, and have some academic discussions with Japanese friends."

Li Yu also gave him a step: "Of course it is worth discussing."

They couldn't raise that much money for a while, and now Lu Shufan's psychological price is still around 25 silver dollars, which is already an extremely low price for so many precious books, and the actual value is far more than 25 yuan.

Lu Shufan said: "Everyone, please go upstairs and have a look."

They all saw Shimada Han enter the Song Tower just now, and it would be unreasonable not to invite them to take a look as well.

When Zhang Yuanji heard that he could read so many Song edition books, his mood immediately improved, and he was the first to climb up.

The Lu family protected this batch of Song edition books very well. Although Li Yu didn't know how to collect them, he could tell from a glance that they contained many traces of the times. Any one would be a priceless treasure in future generations.

It's hard to imagine that in 1907, a small steamer dragged three Wushan boats along the canal to take away so many precious books from Huzhou.

Moreover, the book sale was carried out in a very secret situation at that time, and the people from all walks of life did not know about it.

After this batch of books left the Song Building, they first arrived in Shanghai. The staff of the Lu family and the Jingjiatang library of the Iwasaki family in Japan counted them for 20 days.Then the two parties made the delivery, and the Japanese paid 12 silver dollars, of which 2000 yuan was Shimada Han's errand fee.

It was not until the batch of books arrived in Japan, and Shimada Han sent a long article "The Origin of Songlou Collection" to Dong Kang, a collector in Jiangsu, that everyone knew that the books had gone to Loulou.

The whole country was in an uproar.

Li Yu didn't bother to read it. Anyway, he couldn't understand it. He just looked at the binding and ink color, and couldn't tell whether it was good or bad.

On the contrary, Li Shutong and Zhang Yuanji were always amazed, as if they had entered a big treasure house.

Zhang Yuanji also has a library, but so far he has not received many rare books.

Seeing their situation, Han Shimada managed to convince Lu Shufan a little bit, as if his mood changed a bit.

The more he watched, the more anxious he became, so he said to Lu Shufan: "Mr. Lu, you can make a price, and we can accept as much as you want, as long as the delivery is as soon as possible."

Li Yu smiled and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Buying by force is not acceptable."

Shimada Kan was told that he could not directly confront Li Yu. Instead, he continued to Lu Shufan: "In the final analysis, Japanese culture is the continuation of Oriental culture and Chinese culture. It has continued from ancient Chinese culture to the present. Today, the core of Oriental culture has changed from China in the Song and Yuan Dynasties came to Japan, so we are more qualified to buy these books."

Li Yu almost laughed, why Naito Konan's point of view came out.He said: "You don't need to say these things, China is China, Japan is Japan, don't confuse concepts by stealth."

Naito Konan's "Cultural Center Movement Theory" is really absurd, but the Japanese still think so.

Li Yu particularly dislikes Naito's far-fetched knowledge. After reading a little about Continental Drift, he must use it in other places.

Including Qian Qianyi's sentence in the late Ming Dynasty, "There will be no China after Yashan, and there will be no China after the death of Ming Dynasty."

It's all nonsense. Qian Qianyi's words were clearly an excuse for himself to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. I didn't expect that many so-called "public intellectuals" in later generations would turn it up and talk about it. They really have ulterior motives.

As for Shimada Han, there are many people looking for books in China. They regard obtaining precious documents in China as a matter of "building military merit" like the army. One is "martial arts" and the other is "literary merit."

Therefore, no matter what excuses Shimada gives, visiting books is not just a literati’s appeal for books or academics, but a culturally expansive and possessive appeal in a special era.

Of course, the Japanese's visit to books in modern times is backed by their powerful strength and combined with the interests of the war.To give a simple example, they could not enter the Shenyang Forbidden City in 1902, but it was enough to win the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. This is a fact.

Fortunately, the Russo-Japanese War has not yet been fought, and Japan has not expanded to that point, otherwise, with the help of its military power, it can also become Shimada Han's weight.

(End of this chapter)